Questions Left Unanswered
by Zendelai
Summary: After Shepard has a miserable run-in with Jacob on Arrae, she finds comfort in a surprising pair of blue arms. One-shot. Rated for mild sexual content and language.


A/N: Hello, and welcome to another one-shot of mine! I had the urge to write a Liara/FemShep one shot and I decided to include a past Jacob romance since he's such a forgotten character. I used more of a lackadaisical writing style, so I hope you enjoy! Cookies for anyone who catches the Archer reference.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

_"Did you want me to wait forever?"_

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

_"Brynn... She's very special to me."_

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

_"I love her, Shepard."_

Commander Shepard ceased drumming her fingers on her desk and grabbed the photograph of Jacob and her - his arm around her shoulder and her arm around his waist, both of their mouths wide with laughter at a joke long forgotten - and chucked it across the room with as much force as she could muster, a grim smile of satisfaction playing at the corners of her lips when it shattered against the wall above her bed.

How _dare _he.

_"Did you want me to wait forever?"_

She didn't realize that six months was 'forever' to him, because it sure as hell didn't feel like forever to her. While she was rotting in an Alliance prison for a necessary crime, he was gallivanting across tropical Earth regions with his precious Brynn. Even the thought of her name brought a sneer to Shepard's face.

How dare he act like she was in the wrong for turning herself into the Alliance like a good little soldier?

Perhaps he had been overjoyed when she had been incarcerated, because it finally meant that he was free of her so he could pursue a finer ass, one without the burdens of an entire galaxy.

Her legs became restless, and she stood to pace her meticulously clean chambers.

Did she love him? Of course not. Even if she said that she did on that overly intoxicated night after they took down the Collector base, her heart had never truly been in it. Sure, he had been a comfort to ease her nerves before the attack on the Collector base, and sure, his even-tempered nature helped her cool down her hot-headedness on multiple occasions, but love? No. Lust? That was more like it.

It started with his eyes. When they had first made eye contact, she knew that his soul was full of secrets that she was desperate to unearth. She wanted to swim in their brown pools, forgetting about the desperation of her situation.

Then it was the abs. Oh good Lord, those_ abs_. He could win the Reaper war by just flashing those abs at Sovereign. She would never forget that morning on the ship when she first saw The Abs From God. They were on their way to Omega to pick up Mordin, and in the morning she stopped in the armoury to swap shotguns. She hadn't learned yet that the armoury was Jacob's haunt, so she had sauntered in unannounced and he was there, wearing nothing but a towel slung low around his hips. She couldn't help it: her eyes trailed across his broad shoulders, over his arms, the muscles rippling under skin that looked too tight, and down his torso. Those abs, each perfectly defined and rock hard, accented by the sweet cut of his hip bones, lead down to a tiny treasure trail of dark hair and by a very lucky chance the towel was low enough that she could see a small bush of hair above just the top of his shaft and _by God_ she was so wet that you could have drowned a toddler in her panties. She had politely excused herself, ran upstairs, and masturbated until her fingers turned into prunes.

She had never been awkward around men - quite the opposite, she usually did pretty damn well for herself - but after that day, she always stammered a bit around Jacob.

Damn, she would miss that body.

What was it about her that he deemed so undesirable, anyways? Chucking away any notions of modesty, she always considered herself an above average attractive woman. Like many modern humans, she was mixed race: her mother was Asian, giving her long, shiny, straight black hair (Anderson had always told her "tie it up, or a vorcha pyro will set it on fire!"), clear skin, and a short and slight build; her father was white, giving her big, hazel eyes, a button nose, plump lips, and a damn nice rack. It could be her ass, which was not even close to Miranda's; it could be her temper, and the fact that he had to watch her either punch or shoot _a lot _of unarmed people; or it could be that he didn't have the balls to deal with so much woman.

That's what she kept telling herself, anyways.

"Shepard?"

From her door drifted a familiar voice, both soothing and dreamy.

"Is now a good time?" The voice continued.

"It's always a good time for you, Liara."

The door slid open, and one of her oldest friends walked - no, floated - into her quarters. She looked stunning in a form-fitting purple dress with tantalizing cutouts across her midriff. She made her way to Shepard's couch and gracefully took a seat.

"Going out on a hot date later?" Shepard asked with a raised brow, her eyes raking over Liara's outfit as she sat beside her.

She let out a musical laugh. "I wanted to make sure that you were alright, actually, things looked a bit... rough, on Arrae."

Shepard let out an exasperated sigh and covered her eyes with her hand. "No more drinks and dancing for Jacob and I."

"I am sorry. He is a good man, albeit a bit misguided."

"Misguided is when you're a long-distance runner participating in a 200 metre sprint. He was in the wrong race, on the wrong race course, on the wrong day."

That musical laugh cascaded out of her lips again. "He is a foolish man, and he let a wonderful opportunity go."

"Thanks, Liara, that makes me feel a bit better. I keep telling myself that it's not me, but when it comes to these things I can't help but assume it's me."

Shepard felt a comforting hand on her knee. She was surprised to feel the shock that went straight from her knee to her groin at her touch. "We're facing the destruction of civilization as we know it; we can't be blamed for being a bit crazy."

"Can I... grab you a drink?"

"That would be delightful."

Shepard stood, her gaze lingering on Liara for a moment longer than normal before she made her way up the steps. "What would you like?"

"I'll assume you only have human drinks?"

"Force of habit."

"Single malt scotch with a splash of water, then. No ice."

Shepard's brows rose almost to her hairline. "Really?"

"I would have preferred a dirty martini with four olives, but I highly doubt that you have olives so this is my next choice."

"The apocalypse makes olives a little hard to come by." She quickly made two scotches and placed one in Liara's hand, her fingertips burning where their hands met. "You never cease to surprise me, Liara. It always amazes me that when I first met you, you were just a socially awkward archaeologist that was more interested in Protheans than people. Now you're the Shadow Broker: confident, sexy, and you won't take shit from anyone."

"When I first met you, Shepard, you were a strong-willed, no-holds-barred commander hell bent on saving the galaxy. Now, you're a strong-willed, no-holds-barred commander hell bent on saving the galaxy."

The women laughed and drank together. "To be fair, I was dead for two years while you made a name for yourself."

"To be fair, you had already made a name for yourself."

While the words and the scotch flowed freely, Shepard's mind abruptly fell into a memory of her younger self. She had grown up on a small colony by the name of Mindoir, full of farms, horses, cows, and crops. Her parents had raised her to lead a simple life, a Christian life, providing for the colony and the Lord.

She had always been a terrible Christian, the peak of her rebellion at the ripe age of fifteen. She would smoke cigarettes behind the school, skip class most of the time, and visit older boys' houses to perform acts that would make the good Lord cry.

But then she met Helen.

Helen, sweet Helen. A year older than her, and more beautiful than all of the daisies in all of the fields. She had blonde hair that ran all the way to her round bottom, beautiful wide hips and full breasts, and a perfect white smile permanently accented by red lipstick. Helen could have ensnared any man or woman in the colony to her will, but she chose Shepard.

Their love was so abrupt and sudden, Shepard never questioned the fact that she was a woman. She was so stunning, so compelling, so perfect, that her sexuality was never even an afterthought. Helen said jump, Shepard said how high. They were so in love, they believed that they could have conquered the galaxy. They would smoke all day and hide in the trees and the fields, kissing and holding each other while exchanging every little damn secret. At night, Shepard would pretend to go to bed early for 'extra prayers', but Helen would climb in through her window. Shepard would methodically remove all of Helen's clothes until she was standing before her, naked in her full glory; and Shepard would kiss her neck, her perky breasts, her soft stomach, her mound, and eventually her sweet, tangy womanhood until Helen silently arched her back and gripped the sheets while she gasped in sweet release.

Their passionate lovemaking went on for over a year, until they learned every nook and cranny of each other's bodies and just which buttons to press for the most pleasure.

But then, the batarians hit. Shepard had been waiting for Helen in their favourite tree in the middle of the forest, lying on her back while she basked in the warm sun. When Helen was fifteen minutes late, she assumed that her parents held her up; when she was an hour late, she assumed that she had forgotten about their date; when she was two hours late, Shepard began to panic. That was when she stepped back into town to find its entirety in flames.

She would be lying if she said that she didn't receive some smug satisfaction when she ended the lives of 300,000 batarians to slow the Reaper invasion.

"Shepard? Are you alright?"

"Sorry, Liara, just a little lost in thought."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"Just thinking of my first girlfriend," Shepard confessed. "I lost her on Mindoir."

"I am sorry to hear that."

Liara would never admit to Shepard that fireworks had just gone off in her head.

Shepard was the most fascinating, compelling, and strong woman that Liara had ever met. From the first moment that had met until now, Liara had carried a torch for her commander. On the SR-1, Shepard had shown no interest, so her shy nature kept her quiet about her true feelings. When she lost her and realized that her fear had taken away her chance at happiness, she began to abandon her fears. And look where it had brought her: back with Shepard, back on the Normandy having drinks in her cabin; and while they inched closer to intoxication, they inched closer to each other.

"I never knew you were interested in women." Like a good information broker, Liara prodded just below the surface so she could subtly extract the necessary info.

"Are you familiar with the human term 'bisexual'?"

"No," she lied.

"It means that I'm interested in men and women. Although I would more classify myself as someone who's interested in a person, not a gender."

"Does the same principle apply to aliens?" She inched closer to Shepard, an infinitesimal amount.

"I've never been with an alien," Shepard admitted.

"Have you ever wanted to try?"

"I've thought about it plenty - I've served on a ship filled with them for years, after all, my curiosity can't help but be piqued - but it depends on the alien." The effects of the alcohol were giving Shepard a pleasant buzz, and her words were flowing with less restrictions than normal. "Garrus? I love him like a brother, but he's too rough and hard. I can't imagine the sex would be any fun. Thane? Great guy, way too serious. Feels like it would be a life commitment with him, even though those long fingers have gotten me thinking. Tali? I've always wondered what's underneath that mask and suit, pretty sure she doesn't swing that way though judging by the looks she shoots Garrus. I've never thought about Grunt or Wrex that way, that's just terrifying, pretty sure they'd snap me like a twig. Mordin's pretty asexual. Javik can't stand to be around me, never mind have sex with me." She smiled wryly. "That just leaves me with you."

_Be still my beating heart. _"And?"

Shepard answered her question by firmly kissing her.

Liara tasted sweeter than sugar and felt softer than silk. Shepard ran her finger along her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. Liara parted her lips and gratefully accepted the intrusion of Shepard's tongue, and they danced together as she pressed her chest against Shepard's; wanting more, needing more. Shepard's hands found her chest, squeezing her breasts, eliciting a moan from Liara that sent a shockwave directly to her groin. Liara's head fell back and she let out a long sigh as Shepard kissed down her neck, her chest, her stomach.

Shepard reached her legs and ran her hands up Liara's inner thighs, parting her legs to reveal her glistening folds. Hungry and desperate for the woman before her, she opened the asari's legs wider and began to work the folds with her tongue, thoroughly pleased with herself when Liara began to gasp and grabbed onto her hair. Her ministrations continued until Liara cried out her name, waves of pleasure rocking her body, her breathing rapid.

"My turn," Liara whispered, rolling herself on top of Shepard. "Are you ready?"

"More than ever."

Liara gazed into Shepard's eyes one last time before their minds became one.

* * *

Shepard stared at the ceiling, her eyes wide in pure shock.

Liara rolled onto her side and lazily placed an arm across Shepard's chest. "How are you, Shepard?"

"Never again," Shepard whispered.

Liara's heart dropped into her stomach. "Never again what?"

Shepard's eyes drifted to Liara's. "Never again will I mate with a human, or anyone who isn't you. That mind melding thing… it… I… I have no words. I'm in shock."

"Would you like to go for round two?"

Shepard didn't answer, she only rolled on top of Liara and began to kiss her again.

* * *

Commander Shepard stood in Huerta Memorial Hospital, her hands crossing her chest as she stared out the window, admiring the view of the Citadel. She turned with a wise smile on her face when she heard a man clear his throat behind her.

"Jacob."

"Shepard. Good to see you. You look good."

She chose to ignore his compliment. "You wanted to see me?"

"I just received some news and I wanted you to be the first to know."

"Go on."

"Brynn and I are having a baby."

Shepard's eyes began to water as she tried and failed to hold in her laughter. Jacob stared at her in confusion as she bent over double, gales of laughter escaping her, for a solid minute. Her abs aching, her breath coming in short gasps and tears streaming down her face, she recovered herself.

"Sorry, I was just -" she paused to wipe a stray tear that had fallen down her face. "I'm happy for you, really. But I'm also happy that your swimmers were stronger with her than they were with me." She covered her hand with her fist to stifle a residual giggle.

Jacob was stunned to absolute silence.

"I have to run Jacob, I have a date. See you around."

She made her way to the Presidium Cafe, where Liara was waiting with a broad smile and cups of coffee for both of them.

"Are you alright, Shepard?" she asked.

"Quite the contrary, my dear; I've never been better."


End file.
